World Bank, dept of agriculture impart dossiers in land preparation, techniques for minimum water use and so on.

After suffering from damages and heavy losses over the years, farmers in Maharashtra are learning to practise climate-resilient agriculture techniques. About 5,000 farmers, who come from areas vulnerable to climate change, have been identified by the department of agriculture for a project undertaken by the World Bank. Approved in 2017, the work started a year later in July 2018.

Farmers are being trained in phases to become climate resilient under the (Maharashtra) Project on Climate Change Resilient Agriculture (PoCRA).

According to the World Bank report, the agriculture production of cereal in Maharashtra has declined since 2000, and overall production performed below its potential over the last two decades. The temperature of Maharashtra is expected to rise by 1.7-2 degrees Celsius, which may impede socioeconomic development.

“A total of 18,000 villagers across 15 districts of Maharashtra were identified out of which 5,000 villagers in Marathwada and Vidarbha are the most vulnerable. Their vulnerability is based on 26 parameters like areas experiencing extreme temperatures, erratic rainfall, poor socio-economic conditions and others,” said Vikas Rastogi, project director, Ministry of Agriculture.

Rastogi said that 1,200 villages were undertaken in the first phase earlier this year and the work will begin with another 2,500 communities in coming days. “Farmers who own two hectares or less are being selected for the task as they suffer the most and do not have means to recuperate in many cases. Roughly, 70-80% of the farmers in the state fall under this category,” he added.

A 13-member committee has been formed at gram panchayat level under the Act. It comprises joint decisionmaking authority for the farmers. The activities are also monitored by the district collector and other senior government officials too.

Agribusiness specialist from state department of agriculture Rafique Naikwadi, said that micro-planning is done at village level and scientific methods are implemented as suggested by Yashwantrao Chavan Academy of Development Administration.

“The officials from World Bank agency and department of agriculture visit the village for 10 days to survey and prepare a plan according to the technical feasibility. The job is a two-way implementation to inform about the government policies and also provide services to assist farming like taking crops, getting necessary infrastructures like farm ponds, wells, electricity connection and others,” he added.

Naikwadi said that farmers are given lessons starting from land preparation, using minimum water techniques like mulching drip irrigation, choosing the appropriate crops for the season and also the right technology from the government.

“Demonstrative farming was done when majority of the villages were in the Kharif season to increase the confidence and trust in the methods,” he said adding that it takes time to convince farmers.

He added that farmers have already started implementing the new adaptive techniques.

Speaking to Mirror, he said that farmers are also told to take crops that may produce less yields or are economical. “The crop production may be less. However, the risk revolving financial losses is minimised,” he added.

The officer further said that same would be tried to be implemented during the upcoming Rabi season.

Besides lessons on water budgeting is also given. “The patterns for rainfall are changing, and farmers are told about the distribution of rainfall over time and space. The amount of rainfall may be the same, but the frequency and period may differ,” Naikwadi added.

He further said that such practices would help the farmers improve their capacity to adapt to changing climate conditions, to assess the losses, reduce them and also recover from the impacts at a better pace.

“These moves are aimed to reduce the farmer suicides, loan burden on farmers and help them survive with effective support,” he added.

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